Name: Temple Israel Rabbi speaks out after attack on her synagogue
Uploaded: 2026-03-12T23:07:01.000Z
Duration: 17 min 53 s
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But we do have to begin with breaking news on two attacks here in the United States.

The first at one of the largest synagogues in the country and the other on a major college campus in Virginia.

First on that synagogue attack, which took place this afternoon at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, about 30 miles northwest of Detroit.

Authorities say the suspect drove a truck into the building before security from the synagogue engaged the driver and that something ignited in the vehicle.

This is video from shortly after the incident.

You can see smoke there from a fire billowing from the building.

The Oakland county sheriff providing this update.

Earlier today, he breached the building, drove down the hall, and he was engaged by security.

We're through an abundance of caution, clearing the vehicle for IEDs or any explosives.

We've got a significant number of of bomb dogs on site, bomb techs on site, and

all of that's going to be done to check the boxes.

How much damage to the building from the fire?

We had to send people in with gas masks to clear that area.

I mean, he was traveling with purpose down the hal.

We will speak with a rabbi who was in the building in just a moment.

The White House says President Trump has been briefed on the situation.

And multiple law enforcement agencies across the country say they are increasing their patrols around houses of worship.

And just hours before that attack unfolded in Michigan, a gunman opened fire at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

And we're just learning that the gunman in that shooting was previously convicted of providing material support to isis.

And officials say he specifically, specifically targeted an ROTC class at the university, killing one person and injuring two others.

NBC News national law enforcement and intelligence correspondent Tom Winter joins me along with NBC News Chief justice and national affairs correspondent Kelly o'.

And Jim Kavanaugh, retired ATF special agent in charge and now an NBC News law enforcement analyst also with us.

Thanks to all of you for starting us off on all of the breaking news.

What is the very latest that we know about the synagogue attack at this point?

Right, so we'll start with the synagogue attack there, Kristen.

It is our understanding now that there'll be a press conference at 6:00pm Eastern Time tonight.

The FBI has put out the notice about that press conference saying that they'll be joined by local officials.

I think that's our clearest indication yet that they are leaning almost to the point of falling down on the fact that this is going to be a potential federal terrorism investigation.

We do know that once the FBI would take that over, that would lean towards that.

It could also be some sort of a hate crime investigation, just given the fact that this happened at the temple.

But we did hear at the last press conference from local officials, they were kind of cluing us into this possibility because they said they had picked up some initial information in the course of their investigation that led them to believe that this could be a federal case.

Now, as far as what exactly happened, you heard it from officials there.

You're looking at the smoke on the left side of your screen coming out of that entrance.

That's where it's believed this truck went through.

And then you see heavy smoke billowing out of the middle of the building.

Apparently, after the car stops, there's some sort of fire that erupts.

So they're looking to see whether there was an incendiary device or fireworks.

Probably not a bomb, just given the nature of the damage and some of the other clues that we're looking at.

They would look into something like that.

And they talked about the incredible acts of the security guards there at this temple Israel, where there's obviously, you can see it clearly, a school there as well, firing upon this individual and stopping them.

So that's the latest on what we know out of West Bloomfield, Michigan.

But I think the fact that the FBI has announced the press conference is certainly an indication that this has the potential to be a federal case.

And just to be very clear, we don't know the motive yet.

Investigators are still looking into that.

And so that is something that they're looking into, at least as far as the synagogue incident.

And tell us about the very latest of the shooting in Virginia.

Well, just as we were coming on the air, the FBI director Kash Patel announcing that the shooting at Old Dominion earlier today will be investigated initially as an act of terrorism.

This follows what NBC News first reported, that an individual identified as Mohammed Baylor Jalo, born in 1989 of Sterling, Virginia, is the person that authorities believe is responsible for today's shooting.

That's according to two senior law enforcement officials.

They say that he was the same person, as public records clearly show, was convicted of a material support for ISIS case back in 2016.

He was a former member of the army National Guard and that was to provide material support to that terrorism organization.

He allegedly attempted to help procure weapons intended to be used in what he anticipated was going to be an attack in the US in the name of ISIS.

Apparently he was sentenced to prison for 11 years and was released from BOP custody in 2024.

Right now, his specific motive isn't known.

Obviously, they believe that potentially here an act of terrorism.

And it's our understanding that he specifically targeted an ROTC class.

That's where he walked into and started firing, killing one person in that class, injuring two others.

The FBI director saying it was an act of bravery by those that were in the class to stop him.

It's our understanding that's how the suspect Jaro was killed.

That apparently it was other ROTC members or members of that class that overcame himjalo.

Excuse me, who was killed, killed in that incident.

We're still waiting to get some more information, but it's possible.

We might have two serious incidents here in this country being investigated as active terrorism today.

All right, Tom Winter, thank you so much for starting us off with all of your latest reporting on those investigations.

Kelly, this of course, comes at a very tense moment for religious communities nationwide.

What has the broader response been from law enforcement agencies all around the country?

Well, certainly with the war in Iran, there had been an alert, a sense of posture that was an elevated threat environment.

Not specific threats, but many communities increased security patrols.

In the case of the West Bloomfield, Michigan temple, they had their own on site security.

Many do, especially those in communities where they feel they have the resources.

That's a particularly large community to have that level of vigilance, which is all the time, but

now heightened in part because of world events.

And as Tom was just outlining, if we are now able in the foreseeable future here to draw connections between the actions at Old Dominion University, the actions in West Bloomfield, Michigan, even potentially the actions in Austin, Texas, where the man was wearing, the gunman, was wearing an Iran T shirt and open fire outside an entertainment area.